Cardano Founder Claims Zcash Outperforms Bitcoin; XRP ETF Sees 16% Inflows in May; Strategy Buys 15,466 BTC

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• Hoskinson supports Zcash: Cardano's founder claims Zcash preserves the original cypherpunk anonymity through zk-SNARKs, thereby ideologically outperforming Bitcoin.
• XRP ETF records milestone: In May, U.S. spot XRP ETFs saw net inflows of $94.71 million, a 16% increase from April, setting a new record for 2026.
• $1.2 billion Bitcoin purchase: Corporate whale strategy acquired 15,466 BTC using STRC preferred shares, increasing total reserves to 834,335 BTC.
• Cryptocurrency market outlook: Bitcoin tests key support near $78,000 Weekly ETF outflows reach $995 million ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting minutes.

As Wall Street shows renewed interest in privacy-focused assets, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson says Zcash (ZEC) is closer to the original vision of digital cash than modern Bitcoin. He believes that, when evaluated against the legendary cypherpunk manifesto, Zcash is conceptually superior to Bitcoin.

Hoskinson's main argument is: Bitcoin has lost its most important original feature—anonymity. Today, Bitcoin has become too public, institutionalized, and transparent. Meanwhile, thanks to its zero-knowledge proof technology (zk-SNARKs), Zcash fully conceals the identities of transaction participants and the transaction amounts.

Hoskinson also cited Hal Finney’s 1993 article, in which Finney described electronic cash as a tool that returns control of personal information to individuals beyond the reach of the state. The Cardano founder believes that, from a technical perspective, Zcash more accurately realizes this concept than Bitcoin’s open blockchain.

Hoskinson attempted to elevate Zcash to pedestal, sparking strong opposition from Bitcoin supporters. Critics pointed out a fundamental flaw in Zcash, arguing that it can never surpass Bitcoin in trustworthiness, since 25% of every mining block reward is automatically directed to the developers' wallets. The community commonly refers to this as a "hidden pre-mine," contrasting it with Bitcoin's issuance model.

They also called Hoskinson’s argument a marketing ploy, emphasizing that Hal Finney died long before Zcash was created, never supported it, and that his family publicly endorsed Bitcoin.

This debate comes as Zcash experiences an institutional resurgence, with major players including the Winklevoss brothers and Barry Silbert once again making significant purchases of the asset, while Grayscale explores converting its Zcash trust into a spot ETF.

Institutional investors continue to increase their holdings of XRP. According to the latest data, as of the end of May trading (incomplete), net inflows into U.S. spot XRP ETFs reached $94.71 million, a 16% increase from $81.59 million in April, setting a new monthly record for 2026.

Investor interest in XRP is unevenly distributed, with funds from Bitwise, Canary, and Franklin becoming the primary beneficiaries of May’s capital inflows. Against this backdrop, the combined net assets under management (AUM) for U.S. XRP ETFs approach $1.18 billion.

In addition to institutional capital inflows, other activities have also been highly active. XRP Ledger (XRPL) The growth of XRPL has accelerated significantly. According to Santiment analysts, the number of daily active addresses on XRPL surged to 48,453, reaching the highest level since late March. Additionally, the network added 3,317 new wallets within 24 hours, bringing the total number of activated accounts to 7,856,080, bringing the blockchain closer to the 8 million mark.

The key characteristic of the current market is a significant divergence between retail speculation and long-term capital. While the price of XRP briefly reached a two-month high of $1.54 before retreating into May’s consolidation range of $1.30 to $1.50, major participants have systematically absorbed supply through regulated funds.

Technical experts note that current ETF accumulation is building a solid foundation below a multi-year resistance level; if this resistance is broken and confirmed, long-term Fibonacci targets could pave the way toward the $8 psychological peak of the current market cycle.

The Corporate Bitcoin Whale Strategy continues to actively accumulate Bitcoin by leveraging the unique mechanism of its Stretch (STRC) preferred shares. According to final data, between May 11 and May 15, Strategy added 15,466.30 Bitcoin to its balance. That’s a paper value exceeding $1.2 billion.

This purchase occurred within the price range of $79,000 to $82,000, and if confirmed, the company’s total reserves will increase to 834,335 bitcoins.

In comparison, the company announced just one week ago that it had purchased only 535 bitcoins. Strategy last utilized the STRC parity mechanism in mid-April, when bitcoin prices were near $100, successfully acquiring 34,164 bitcoins while bitcoin traded between $70,000 and $77,000.

However, this model continues to spark intense debate on Wall Street. Prominent critic Peter Schiff has described STRC’s structure as a “classic centralized finance pyramid.” Schiff argues that it is misguided for investors to sell Bitcoin and channel liquidity into Strategy shares in pursuit of double-digit returns.

Despite the arrival of Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh and record-high ETF outflows, Bitcoin remains stable as investors await a key inflation test.

Key checkpoints:

• Bitcoin price outlook: After ETFs saw outflows of up to $995 million this week, BTC is testing support near $78,000. Strong buying interest is concentrated around $77,300, but a break below this level could trigger a more significant correction.
• Macroeconomic triggers: This week’s focus is on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes, to be released on May 20 at 22:00, which may reveal the Fed’s interest rate plans. The market will then turn to the building permits data, due on May 21 at 16:30, with major volatility expected on May 28 at 16:30, when the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data (prior value: 0.3%) and U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data (prior value: 0.5%) are released.
• Kevin Wash factor: The new Federal Reserve chair has officially succeeded Jerome Powell. Wash is widely viewed as supportive of cryptocurrency innovation. Despite inflation remaining at 3.8% and pressure from the White House to lower rates, his independence is under close scrutiny.
• The CLARITY Act makes breakthrough progress: This digital asset market structure bill passed the U.S. Senate Banking Committee by a 15-to-9 vote and is now awaiting a full Senate vote. The bill lays the foundation for legitimate institutional custody, while U.S. leadership is calling for... The final bill is ready to be signed before July 4.
• Japan opens its doors: Financial giants SBI Securities and Rakuten Securities are preparing to launch crypto investment trusts (ETF-like products) before 2027.